macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install lighttpdlocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install lighttpdMacPorts ports tree · www/lighttpd/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew
Install lighttpd with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, zypper
Small memory footprint, flexible web-server. Version 1.4.84 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-18.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add lighttpdAlpine Linux edge package indexes · lighttpd · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install lighttpdDebian stable package indexes · lighttpd · source: deb.debian.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install lighttpdFedora Rawhide package metadata · lighttpd · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#lighttpdnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/li/lighttpd/package.nix · source: api.github.com
Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S lighttpdArch Linux sync databases · lighttpd · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install lighttpdopenSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · lighttpd · source: download.opensuse.org
Windows
Scoopverified · 92%
scoop install extras/lighttpdScoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/lighttpd.json · source: api.github.com
overview
Package summary
Small memory footprint, flexible web-server
Project links
Commands and aliases
- lighttpd
- lighttpd-angel
history
Project history and usage
lighttpd, pronounced "lighty", is a lightweight open-source HTTP server designed for high-performance environments with low memory and CPU use. It became part of the early-2000s wave of event-driven web servers that challenged process-heavy Apache deployments for static content, FastCGI, and constrained systems.
Project history
Jan Kneschke's own project story traces lighttpd to February 2003, when he used Dan Kegel's c10k problem as a distraction while finishing a thesis. The prototype was explicitly about handling 10,000 parallel connections on one server after seeing Apache-style deployments exhaust memory with much smaller concurrency.
The project evolved into the 1.4 series with modules for FastCGI, CGI, authentication, compression, URL rewriting, proxying, TLS, and other common web-server jobs. Its official site continued to emphasize secure, fast, compliant, flexible service and lower resource use than other popular web servers.
Adoption history
lighttpd spread through Unix package managers because it was small, permissively licensed, and useful wherever Apache was too heavy or a reverse proxy/static-file server was enough. Its FastCGI support made it a practical companion for PHP, Ruby, Python, Perl, and other application stacks before nginx became the default lightweight-web-server answer for many administrators.
How it is used
Administrators generally run lighttpd as a daemon with a central lighttpd.conf file and optional included configuration fragments. It is used for static sites, embedded-device admin interfaces, FastCGI applications, reverse proxying, and small services where predictable resource usage matters.
Why package nerds care
lighttpd is package-nerd significant because it preserves a distinct branch of web-server history: event-driven C infrastructure from the c10k era, a compact module system, and long-lived distro packaging across Linux, BSD, macOS, and Windows-adjacent ecosystems. It is also a reminder that "small web server" was a competitive category before nginx and Caddy dominated newer conversations.
Timeline
- 2003-02: Jan Kneschke began the proof-of-concept that became lighttpd while thinking about the c10k problem.
- 2004: lighttpd licensing and copyright notices identify Jan Kneschke and incremental as early rightsholders.
- 2000s: lighttpd became a common package-manager web server for FastCGI and low-resource deployments.
- 2026: The official site still described active 1.4.x releases and a focus on secure, fast, compliant, flexible service.
Related projects
- lighttpd is historically compared with Apache httpd, nginx, thttpd, and other event-driven or lightweight HTTP daemons. Its FastCGI usage ties it to PHP-FPM-style application serving, and its module set overlaps with reverse proxies used in modern web stacks.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: orange
broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. formula declares a Homebrew service.
Risk classifier
orange risk · medium confidence · infrastructure
Why
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
- formula declares a Homebrew service
Signals
- metadata:service
- text:http,server
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Formula metadata declares a service or daemon block.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Installs with 3 runtime dependencies.
- Build metadata lists 4 build dependencies.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
local files
Configuration and credential file locations
These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.
Configuration files
Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.
- Unix
/etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf/etc/lighttpd/conf.d/*.conf
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
lighttpd | cli | global executable | |
lighttpd-angel | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-07-08
manager version1.4.84
manager updated2026-06-18
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://www.lighttpd.net/none confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:lighttpd |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.4.84 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/lighttpd |
| Homepage | https://www.lighttpd.net/ |
| Repository | https://git.lighttpd.net/lighttpd/lighttpd1.4.git |
| Upstream docs | https://redmine.lighttpd.net/projects/lighttpd/wiki/Docs |
| License | BSD-3-Clause |
| Source archive | https://download.lighttpd.net/lighttpd/releases-1.4.x/lighttpd-1.4.84.tar.xz |
| Last updated | 2026-06-18T08:01:21Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Dependencies | openldap, openssl@3, pcre2 |
| Build dependencies | autoconf, automake, libtool, pkgconf |
| Uses from macOS | bzip2, libxcrypt |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | declared |
| Caveats | Docroot is: $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/var/www The default port has been set in $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf to 8080 so that lighttpd can run without sudo. |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | lighttpd |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt95%
lighttpd 1.4.79-2
fast webserver with minimal memory footprint
sudo apt install lighttpd- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- 5 dependencies
- 18 provides
- 13 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-doc 1.4.79-2
documentation for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-doc- Section: doc
- Architecture: all
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-authn-gssapi 1.4.79-2
GSSAPI authentication module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-authn-gssapi- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 4 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-authn-pam 1.4.79-2
PAM authentication module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-authn-pam- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-authn-sasl 1.4.79-2
SASL authentication module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-authn-sasl- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-deflate 1.4.79-2
HTTP response compression module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-deflate- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 6 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-gnutls 1.4.79-2
TLS support using GnuTLS module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-gnutls- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-maxminddb 1.4.79-2
GeoIP2 info module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-maxminddb- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-mbedtls 1.4.79-2
TLS support using mbedTLS module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-mbedtls- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 5 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-nss 1.4.79-2
TLS support using NSS crypto module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-nss- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 4 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-openssl 1.4.79-2
TLS support using OpenSSL module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-openssl- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-vhostdb-pgsql 1.4.79-2
PostgreSQL-based virtual host configuration module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-vhostdb-pgsql- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-webdav 1.4.79-2
WebDAV module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-webdav- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 4 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-mod-wolfssl 1.4.79-2
TLS support using wolfSSL module for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-mod-wolfssl- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-modules-dbi 1.4.79-2
DBI-based modules for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-modules-dbi- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 5 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
Debian apt95%
lighttpd-modules-ldap 1.4.79-2
LDAP-based modules for lighttpd
sudo apt install lighttpd-modules-ldap- Section: httpd
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: lighttpd
- 3 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Lighttpd
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment